The journalist is accused of "incitement to violence" for certain articles he wrote in the weekly. This sentence is the longest ever passed on a journalist in Ethiopia.

RSF recalls that in addition to this case, eight other journalists are still in jail in Ethiopia. Some of them have been incarcerated since 1997.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to the Prime Minister: - reminding him that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights considers that "detention, as punishment for the expression of an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to enjoin silence and, as a consequence, a grave violation of human rights," without commenting on the facts of the case - reminding him that Ethiopia has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19 of which guarantees the freedom to inform and to be informed - urging him to fulfil his obligations towards the international community and to do his best to secure the immediate release of Seyum and all other imprisoned journalists

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency Meles Zenawi Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Fax: +251 1 514 300

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Jean-Francois Julliard or Vincent Brossel at RSF, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: afrique@rsf.fr, Internet: http://www.rsf.fr

The information contained in this action alert update is the sole responsibility of RSF. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.

The Algerian diplomat is due to arrive in the Eritrean capital Asmara on Saturday evening, going on to Addis Ababa on Monday for talks there with Ethiopian leaders and representatives of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which has its headquarters in the Ethiopian capital.

Sahnoun shuttled between the two capitals in early February, but was unable to prevent a resumption of the heavy fighting, which first broke out in May last year.

The initial clashes lasted about five weeks and major clashes resumed more than two months ago after diplomacy failed to resolve the dispute over the ill-defined border.

Both sides say thousands of troops have died since the fighting reignited on February 6, with thousands of others wounded or taken prisoner.

In late February, Ethiopia drove Eritrean troops out of the Badme region on the western front after having cast their presence in that zone -- previously under Ethiopian administration -- as a symbol of Eritrean aggression.

Asmara subsequently accepted an OAU peace plan to which Addis Ababa had agreed when it was presented last November.

The plan calls for the deployment of peacekeepers and observers and neutral delineation of the 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) -long border, but its implementation remains blocked, and demands for a ceasefire by the UN Security Council have gone unheeded.

Addis Ababa interprets the plan as calling for an Eritrean withdrawal from all disputed territory Eritrean troops occupied along the border last year, but Asmara maintains that it requires only a retreat from the Badme area -- already accomplished by force of arms -- before military disengagement by both sides.

In Asmara, Sahnoun will hold talks with President Issaias Afeworki and several ministers, the president's chief of staff, Yemane Ghebremeskel, told AFP by telephone.

"We welcome this visit with satisfaction," he said, adding that "there is no obstacle to a ceasefire on the Eritrean side".

"We've both accepted the OAU plan," Ghebremeskel noted.

"Now we've got to work on putting it into effect," he said, but accused Ethiopia of "trying to impose new conditions".

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopian parliamentary speaker Dawit Johannes told AFP that Eritrea was "playing with words".

The war has resulted in the displacement of more than half a million civilians, who are now being provided with emergency food by the United Nations.

The UN Security Council reaffirmed its support of the OAU's peace efforts on April 13 and asked both countries to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross free access to prisoners of war.